. >> reporter: a team of researches, including experts from uc berkeley and caltrans, analyzed three weeks worth of cell phone gps data from over 350,000 people here in the bay area. it's first time a study like this has been attempted. by mapping out where and when those phones were used and comparing that to know traffic patterns, the team determined that a small number of commuters are actually causing some of the regions biggest traffic jams. they found that drivers in parts of san rafael, hayward, san ramon, dublin and san jose are all trying to commute at the same time. thats creating traffic back ups for everyone else. the team believes that by changing the driving habits of the people who live in these areas, overall commute times could be improved. for example, if the number of drivers from these spots was reduced by just 1 percent, the travel times for everyone could be shortened by up to 18 percent. turning a one hour commute, into a 50 minute trip. researchers also say that encouraging people in these areas to carpool or use public transportation would actually be more ef